🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 71
The Terminal Baby Physician Doesn’t Hide Her Genius
When a person witnesses something unbelievable, their reaction often comes in strange forms: they turn away from it, dismiss it as nonexistent, or lash out in anger.
That was exactly the case with this shocking event.
‘That… little kid is a physician?’
Carmine, a sixty-four-year-old physician, was from the Western Continent. Gifted in talent, he had risen swiftly in the medical field.
He had also served the Black Clan for over thirty years—a seasoned veteran.
‘She really cured the Black Consort? Impossible!’
Having shared in the rise and fall of the Black Clan, Carmine knew its inner affairs better than most.
For instance, the scandal of the Black Consort—once the clan’s most fearsome shadow—who had run away for love. Or the price he had to pay when he returned, with his child taken as hostage.
“I’m a physician.”
Rumors about the Black Consort’s daughter had reached his ears recently as well.
About three weeks ago, it was said an incredible physician had appeared in the Black Forest market.
A natural-born ability user who could immediately diagnose illnesses and concoct miraculous medicines.
And the most astounding part—the physician was an infant.
When Carmine first heard it, like every other clan physician, he dismissed it as nonsense.
Most natural healers spent years learning to awaken their power and figure out how to wield it. Even more years were required to master it.
And on top of that, one needed extensive medical knowledge and herbal expertise to make proper use of the ability.
Neglect even one of these, and one could never become a true physician.
Many gave up midway, choosing instead to become pharmacists who quietly made medicine.
And yet, this infant…
According to rumors, the child could diagnose an illness with a single look, then immediately prepare medicine on the spot.
Even treat the patient right then and there.
‘Such absurd rumors…’
‘The ignorant cling to impossible fantasies, that’s all. Tsk, they don’t know reality.’
‘What could fools possibly understand?’
Everyone had scoffed, convinced it was a street tale.
Even as the story grew and spread day by day, the physicians—raised within the fortress that was the Black Clan—remained frogs in a well, blind to the world outside.
Carmine was no different.
‘But now…’
What was he to make of what he just witnessed?
The warriors trapped in water struggled desperately, their voices cut off mid-cry.
And there, at the foot of the stairs, stood a child looking up at the clan head.
The one who introduced herself as a physician—nothing more than a baby, her speech still unpolished.
‘…If that’s her diagnostic ability, it’s already been over a full minute.’
The daughter of the Black Consort. A tragic figure, known now to only a very few.
“Clan Head—no, Grandmother.”
The child, introducing herself as Black Bi-Yu, placed her small hand over her chest.
Even to Carmine, there were countless astonishing points about her.
“Do you have any doubts? I’ll prove whatever you wish.”
Even if her words matched the wild rumors whispered on the streets…
How could he believe that this baby had cured an illness that not even the great Clan Head, nor he himself after fifty years of medicine, could treat?
No—he mustn’t believe it.
Carmine, usually a man of calm dignity, felt an uncontrollable surge of rage.
How many physicians and pharmacists had endured endless years of hardship to stand here?
“Please allow me to introduce myself as a physician. I’ve already improved the illness and made medicine.”
“…”
“There’s no other way to describe me—physician, not pharmacist.”
Her pronunciation stumbled here and there, but her grasp of language was flawless.
Everyone around held their breath, each for their own reasons.
“You…”
The Clan Head, eyes closed, spoke softly.
Her voice was quiet, yet the tension it carried was overwhelming.
“You truly treated her?”
In that instant, her eyes opened wide.
Pale, unfocused eyes stared into the void.
Woooong!
A tremendous wind rose, the air vibrating and heating.
Even among ability users, powers manifested in diverse forms.
Among lightning wielders, some specialized in striking down bolts, while others absorbed it into their bodies for speed.
The Clan Head was one who specialized in wielding air and wind itself.
The vibrations she summoned reached the child, wrapping around her body—
Boom!
A clash erupted as air of differing temperatures collided.
“How many times must I ask you? Speak with me without laying a hand on my child.”
“…Black Consort.”
“Are your ears and mouth not open?”
His brazen words, openly provoking the blind Clan Head, stirred furious wrath among retainers and warriors.
“If you wish to fight with wind, I too am no stranger to it.”
But when they beheld the vast whirlpool spiraling behind the Black Consort, they fell silent.
Seizing the moment, he swept his daughter into his arms.
‘After confidently standing on her own, she’s back in her father’s arms again.’
Bi-Yu, however, found no shame in it. Her father’s embrace was unshakably strong.
“I didn’t lie. Uncle himself proved my treatment worked, that he was getting better.”
The Clan Head’s wide-open eyes revealed veins swelling visibly around them.
‘So this is what it feels like when someone sacrifices part of their body for power.’
Calmly, Bi-Yu observed her.
Could she treat that, too?
“Yes, granddaughter. Very amusing indeed. But let’s save questions for later. There’s still one more child of mine here who must prove himself, isn’t there?”
Her voice grew sharper.
Even as she spoke, Bi-Yu’s water trap holding the warriors dissolved away.
“Were you calling me?”
Splash!
A fresh surge of water swept toward the freed warriors.
“Well, it’s finally my turn.”
Countless thin streams of water bound the warriors tightly like ropes, spears of liquid poised at their throats.
Black Bi-Rang pushed his hair back and muttered.
“Calling yourselves warriors, yet you grab at children? Pathetic bastards.”
At his words, raindrops began to fall from the empty sky.
It was his ability—to create water droplets in the air.
And from the rain bloomed a rainbow.
Not the faint kind of nature, but a bold, golden, five-colored arc.
‘You were right.’
Witnessing his old prowess—once thought lost forever—Bi-Rang recalled Bi-Yu’s words.
‘It’s not that your power is gone. The illness just keeps you from controlling it. Once you take medicine, it’ll be fine. No problem.’
‘Let me be the physician who cures even that.’
You were right, Bi-Yu.
You truly are remarkable.
With a grin, Bi-Rang bent the light through water, weaving illusions.
“Mother, wasn’t it you who knew best how this illness made me a cripple who couldn’t even use water? That day, you called me a worthless son.”
“…”
“I’ll prove myself this way.”
Within the rain falling only in his immediate vicinity, his figure split into two.
It was the brilliant illusion ability he once flaunted at his peak.
Then, the image melted away.
Bi-Rang smirked.
“Well then, what else would you like me to prove?”
